Dual Boot Installation - Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista

How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista​

   Information

This will show you how to set up a dual boot installation with Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista when Windows 7 or Vista is installed first.

Windows 8 : frequently asked questions

   Note

Windows 8 System Requirements
Windows 8 works great on the same hardware that powers Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)

Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

Graphics card: MicrosoftDirectX 9 graphics device or higher

Additional requirements to use certain features:

• To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch.
• To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
• To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768.

   Tip

If you dual boot Windows 8 with another OS (ex: Windows 7 or Vista) with Windows 8 set as the default OS to run at startup, then it gives you the Change default or choose other options link as in the example screenshot below to make it easier to boot into the Startup Options menu for more System Recovery Options.

EXAMPLE: "Choose an operating system" Screen at Boot
NOTE: This is the new "Windows Boot Manager" screen that Windows 8 uses now to allow you to select either Windows 8 or say Windows 7 to start when your boot or restart the computer. Clicking on the Change default or choose other options link at the bottom will allow you to change the default time to wait before starting the default OS, change the default OS to start automatically after wait time, or to choose a recovery option.








Here's How:


1. Other than the hard drive that you plan on installing Windows 8/8.1 on, it's recommended to disconnect all hard drives that do not have an OS installed on them.

2. Start Windows 7 or Vista, and log on to an administrator account. Go to either step 2 or 3 below for what you wanted to install Windows 8 on.

   Warning

If your motherboard as UEFI, then also see either tutorial below:

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with

or

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 8 with

3. If you Already Have an Empty Hard Drive or Partition to Install Windows 8 On

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A) Go to step 5 below.​

4. If you Want to Shrink a Partition to Install Windows 8 On

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A) Shrink a partition, such as the Windows 7 partition (ex: C: drive), in Disk Management by at least 20GB (20480MB) (1GB=1024MB) to have unallocated space to be able to install Windows 8 on, and go to step 5 below. (see screenshots below)​

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NOTE: This example has the 100 MB System Reservered partition that Windows 7 creates when installed on a unallocated HDD. If your Windows 7 installation does not have the 100 MB System Reservered partition, then that is fine since this will still work to dual boot with Windows 8. Just do not delete the 100 MB System Reservered partition if you do have one.​

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5. Do either step 6 or 7 below for how you want to start installing Windows 8.



6. To Install Windows 8 at Boot to Dual boot with Windows 7 or Vista

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A) Insert or connect your Windows 8 installation DVD or USB thumb drive, and restart the computer to boot from your Windows 8 installation media.​

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B) Go to step 8.​

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7. To Install Windows 8 from within Windows 7 or Vista to Dual Boot with

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A) Do step B or C below depending on if you are using a Windows 8 DVD/USB or a Windows 8 ISO.​

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B) Insert or connect your Windows 8 installation DVD or USB thumb drive. In the Computer window, right click on the Windows 8 installation USB/DVD drive, and click on Open. Go to step 7D.​

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OR​

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C) After installing a free program like 7-Zip, right click on the Windows 8 ISO file, select 7-Zip and click on Extract Files, extract the ISO file to a folder (ex: WindowsDeveloperPreview) on your Desktop in Windows 7 or Vista, and open the extracted folder when finished. Go to step 7D.​

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NOW​

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D) Open the sources folder first, and run the setup.exe file inside the sources folder. (see screenshots below)​

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   Warning

If you run the setup file in the root directory instead of the one in the sources folder, then you will be upgrading Windows 7 or Vista to Windows 8 instead of dual booting with Windows 8 and will lose Windows 7 or Vista.

   Warning

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E) Click on the Go online to get the latest updates for installation option. (see screenshot below)​

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F) Continue on to step 8.​

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8. You can now finish doing a clean install of Windows 8 to either the empty HDD or partition from step 3, or the unallocated space created in step 4. Be sure to not select your Windows 7 or Vista partition to install Windows 8 to. If you do, Windows 8 will replace it.
NOTE: The screenshot below is at step 7 in the clean install tutorial.

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9. If this a Windows 8 upgrade copy, then you will now need to refresh Windows 8 for it to be activated.

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   Warning

MICROSOFT SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT

   Warning

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Windows 8 EULA​

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What about upgrading the software? ​

The software covered by this agreement is an upgrade to your existing operating system (XP SP3, Vista, or Windows 7) software, so the upgrade replaces the original software that you are upgrading. You do not retain any rights to the original software after you have upgraded and you may not continue to use it or transfer it in any way. This agreement governs your rights to use the upgrade software and replaces the agreement for the software from which you upgraded. After you complete your upgrade, additional software will be required to playback or record certain types of media, including DVDs.​

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10. When finished, you will be in Windows 8 with Windows 8 set as the default OS to start after the wait time. Restarting Windows 8 will allow you to be able to select what OS you would like to start like in the example at the top of the tutorial.

11. In a dual boot setup with Windows 8 and a previous version of Windows (ex: Windows 7 or Vista), then it is recommended to turn off Fast Startup to avoid possibly having issues with shut down, restart, and chkdsk.

12. When finished, you can reconnect any hard drives from step 1.



That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Enable or Disable Secure Boot in UEFI
• How to Delete "Windows 8" in your Dual Boot with Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Delete "Windows 7" in your Dual Boot with Windows 8
• How to Delete an Operating System Listed in Windows Boot Manager
• How to Do a Clean Install of Windows 8 or Windows 8.1
• How to Do a Clean Install with Windows 8 Upgrade
• How to Install Windows 8 Using "Unified Extensible Firmware Interface" (UEFI)
• How to Create a Bootable USB or DVD with the Windows 8 ISO
• How to Upgrade from Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, or XP to Windows 8 or 8.1
• How to Downgrade Windows 8 to Windows 7
• How to Download and Run the "Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant"
• How to Create or Download a Windows 8 Upgrade ISO
• How to Install Windows 8 on VMware Player
• How to Install Windows 8 on VirtualBox
• How to Reset Windows 8
• How to Refresh Windows 8
• How to Create a Windows 8 VHD at Boot to Dual Boot with Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Boot from a VHD using Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Choose a Default Operating System to Run at Startup in Windows 8
• How to Change the Product Key Number in Windows 8
• How to Load SATA Driver During Windows 8 Setup

 

[theog]

Nice one, Shawn.

 

[Brink]

Thank you Ray.

 

[Dave76]

Great tut Shawn, thanks.

 

[Bill2]

Hey Shawn, theres an easy way to choose the partition on which win8 will be installed, even if one is doing it from inside win7. Mount the win8 iso using the inbuilt iso mount feature, then instead of starting the install by double clicking Setup.exe, open the SOURCES folder. Locate SETUP.EXE inside the SOURCES folder and double click it to start the install. That'll give you the partition choice.

 

[mikedl]

Thanks for cluing me in on the "Other options," Shawn.

I guess in my gidiness to check out Win8 I've never looked into it - until now. Cool!

 

[Brink]

Hey Shawn, theres an easy way to choose the partition on which win8 will be installed, even if one is doing it from inside win7. Mount the win8 iso using the inbuilt iso mount feature, then instead of starting the install by double clicking Setup.exe, open the SOURCES folder. Locate SETUP.EXE inside the SOURCES folder and double click it to start the install. That'll give you the partition choice.

Thank you Bill.

Thanks for cluing me in on the "Other options," Shawn.

I guess in my gidiness to check out Win8 I've never looked into it - until now. Cool!

You're welcome Mike.

 

[gferen]

ok hice one. but i have question. i installed first win 8 64 bit and after win 7 64 bit. now i have boring Win 7 boot manger. Is there way to bring Win 8 boot manager?

hanks

 

[mikedl]

Do a refresh of your Win 8 installation. You'll get it back. See above in the tutorial or How to Refresh Windows 8.

 

[gferen]

so if i boot my PC from USB win 8 install and use refersh my PC? i hope will not destroy boot manager like fist time i did it. or would be beter to run startup repair insted?

 

[mikedl]

so if i boot my PC from USB win 8 install and use refersh my PC? i hope will not destroy boot manager like fist time i did it. or would be beter to run startup repair insted?

I was OK. When you go to refresh, it will ask you which particular region you want to refresh.

Here was my experience (pressing F8, mind you but you should get the same if you boot with Win 8 install DVD or USB):

 

[djshonrock]

great tutorial Shawn....

 

[Brink]

Thank you Shon.

 

[djshonrock]

welczzz....

 

[ICit2lol]

Hiyya Shawn I have downloaded the 8 as per the link. On my main hard drive you can see that I have the 8 in the new partition - now I don't want to muck up but do I need to copy this to a thumb drive or can I set the machine to start up with that blue screen with options (my preference). I also allocated quite by mistake the system reserved a letter do I need to remove that letter? <br><br>Sorry for being a bit dumb but I would rather make sure with Yoda before I totally have to "reinvent" my main machine.

 

[aem]

1) Put the iso file you download back onto C:
2) Download 7-zip and unzip your iso file.
3) After unzipped, go into the Windows 8 folder, go into Sources and double-click Setup.
This will then kick off the pre-installation window and from there you will be able to select Parition F to install your Windows 8 on.

 

[ICit2lol]

1) Put the iso file you download back onto C:
2) Download 7-zip and unzip your iso file.
3) After unzipped, go into the Windows 8 folder, go into Sources and double-click Setup.
This will then kick off the pre-installation window and from there you will be able to select Parition F to install your Windows 8 on.

Thanks aem
Now I copy / paste it from the F: partition into the C: partition
Unzip in C: with that app
Open the folder (still in C:?) > Sources > Setup > giver me that pre-installation window.

Sorry mate think I have got that I just want to be absolutely sure don't want to end up trashing anything.

 

[aem]

This is my setup. Extended Partition off C and are Logical drives.

 

[Brink]

1) Put the iso file you download back onto C:
2) Download 7-zip and unzip your iso file.
3) After unzipped, go into the Windows 8 folder, go into Sources and double-click Setup.
This will then kick off the pre-installation window and from there you will be able to select Parition F to install your Windows 8 on.

Thanks aem
Now I copy / paste it from the F: partition into the C: partition
Unzip in C: with that app
Open the folder (still in C:?) > Sources > Setup > giver me that pre-installation window.

Sorry mate think I have got that I just want to be absolutely sure don't want to end up trashing anything.

Hello John,

Yep, you have it right. You should be good to go from there. After this, select the "Custom" option instead of "Upgrade", then select the drive/partition that you want to install Windows 8 on.

 

[ICit2lol]

Thanks Shawn I'll give the go ahead then - up with the goods again